4th of July fun

Compared to some of the other 4th of July celebrations we've had, yesterday was down right boring! But we loved it! After an emotional, draining, stressful and crazy couple of month, a three day weekend with very little on our plate was just what we needed. I'll go into more details later, but things have been particularly stressful in the past week. Though it's exciting to see the hand of God moving in our lives, it's a little scary. But more on that later....

Yesterday, we went to Heritage park in Bryan. They have.....

a bike parade....

sack races with pin wheels for prizes....

lots of patriotic fun and flag waving.....

and face painting!

We spent the morning at Heritage Park. After that, it was a quiet afternoon for the kiddos while I worked on organizing the laundry room. Exciting, I know! We're hoping to finish painting the laundry room this coming weekend. In the evening, we grilled,and enjoyed more time outside in the pool.

I am so thankful for the days of calm given right in the middle of craziness!

Father's Day, come and gone.

Three years ago, Father's Day was on Elizabeth's birthday. I posted a little early about the many Father's that I have been blessed with in my life; my Daddy, Curtis, my father-in-law, and my Papas.

This year for Father's Day, we drove to Altus, OK. As I was sitting next to my Dad, in the funeral home, I was reminded that it was Father's Day. He had just lost his Dad, and my Mom was going through her first Father's Day without her Daddy. It just plain sucked!

My wandering mind went back three years, to the Father's Day on Elizabeth's birthday. And to the montage of pictures with these special men. And now, there are even more special memories! Memories with Timothy and his Great-Papas and more memories of Elizabeth, Micah and Benjamin.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy late Father's day!!! I am incredibly thankful for the men in the montage, the memories the my children and I have with them, and for the loving care of my Heavenly Father when life just sucks.

Papa

8 short weeks after we lost my Papa Kerry, my Papa Jimmie passed away. As I sat at his funeral, the 3rd family funeral I'd attended in 6 months, I found myself overwhelmed with sweet memories. And the above picture easily sums up several memories of Papa. His recliner, in the same corner of the living room that it had always been in. An OSU t-shirt. His sweet, slight smile. His hands. The table behind him, set for a meal that he and Grandma had planned for us all.

As I entered another stage of grief, I found myself thinking that it was all just too much. It's too much, and too hard to lose both my Papas in such a short amount of time. It's been heartbreaking to watch my Grandmas become widows. But God has been gracious to remind me of his never ending, sustaining love, that has carried me through the grief process before. Though sad, I am confident that my Savior is loving and has a plan in all this.

My girl

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh me, oh my.

May was a very crazy month. Lots of fun, but really crazy. As we looked ahead to June, we knew it would be equally crazy. However, we looked forward to knowing that we didn't have anything going on for Memorial Day weekend. Until our AC went out.

Then I left for Atlanta, Georgia to meet my newest nephew the following Thursday. We had several friends who offered their help to us during this time, and were blessed by a lady in our church who opened her home to us.

The AC was fixed on Friday after Memorial Day, Curtis and the kids "moved back home" on Saturday, and I came home from Atlanta on Sunday, after a five hour delay in Atlanta.

On Thursday, June 9th, the kids and I headed to Wichita to help my mom with VBS since my dad was going to be out of town.

During all this, my Papa Johnston suffered two heart attacks. His health started to rapidly decline, and he entered congestive heart failure.

So Curtis is in College Station, holding down the fort there. The kids and I are in Wichita, helping with VBS. My dad is out of the country. And we're just waiting to see when Papa will pass away. I'm feeling weary from all that life has offered to us in the past few weeks, but trying to rest in God's perfect plan.

Chaos and sweetness

Our life is chaos right now. Total chaos. So much chaos that I'll have to write a blog just about all the chaos. But since I don't really want to do that, here are some pictures of Timothy at this first day of Sunday school. Sweet, sweet, sweet big boy!

Pics from my phone

Here are a few moments that I've captured over the past month or so when I didn't have a real camera handy. A little glimpse into my life.

It's summer in Texas! Time to break out the pool! But for Timothy, swimming in the "big" pool with his siblings can be a little overwhelming. So I filled our empty sandbox with water, and let him have his own private pool,
We've entered a new era for Timothy. Climbing! Nothing is safe. And homeschooling just got a lot more interesting!

Recently, Timothy's been falling asleep in his highchair during lunch. Sweet boy.
Watching the royal wedding.
Usually, my boys are rough and tumble, wild and crazy. One evening, Micah laid on me while I was on the couch, wrapped his "little" arms around me, and told me he would keep me safe from Benjamin. I savored this moment!
Another savorable moment..... a late sleeping Benjamin!
While we were in OKC last month, Elizabeth, my Mom and I took a break from the craziness and got pedicures. It was wonderful! Such a special time with two very special ladies.

For six straight days, we were sick. I think we ended up passing around two different viruses. This picture of Micah was taken during one of SIX doctor's visits that we made during our sickness. Poor little guy. Elizabeth and Benjamin were the same way the day before.

Sell this house?!

Yep. The house is still on the market. After taking it off the market for a few weeks earlier this year, we put it back on at the end of February.

We've been enjoying lots of traffic, compared to the fall. We show the house at least twice a week, the most times we've showed it in a week is five times. We've even received an offer. However, it was low and the buyers weren't interested in negotiating.

All this is great, however, we still haven't sold the house.

One piece of criticism that we continually get is the carpet. Curtis and I decided we weren't putting any more big money into the house, specifically carpet since we have 4 young children. Last night, Curtis and I cleaned the carpets with a proffesional carpet cleaner that we rented. I was thrilled with the results!


Obviously, it doesn't look new. And we didn't worry too much about the areas the rug and carpet would cover. But as our realtor said, we just want to give a more positive first impression. And hopefully, now potential buyers will see the house as more move in ready.

The many faces

Happy birthday, Benjamin!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Where to start?!

Last night, as part of my birthday celebration, Curtis and I went out for dinner. After dinner, we went to Half Price Books, where I found the following books.

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneffer

Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The best part about these books is that, except for one, they were all in the clearance section for $1! I was very excited to walk out of the store with 7 books for only $8.66.

But, where should I start?! I'm going to be doing some traveling, ALONE, in a couple weeks, and can't decide which books to take with me. Any recommendations?

My favorite people on my birthday

Ben and Wo

Benjamin has a very special friend, Will. When they were both little and learning how to talk, Will called Benjamin "Ben" and Benjamin called Will "Wo".

These two have had a very long friendship, starting with a car ride Erin, Will's Mommy, and I had. Erin and I were driving to a friends' house and Erin said, "So I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow." I thought that was interesting, since I too had a doctor's appointment the next day. She quickly informed me, "I'm pregnant!" Without missing a beat I said, "Me too!" We discovered that our due dates were the same day. Will was born on May 15th, 2007 and Benjamin was born three days later.

It's been such a joy to see Ben and Wo become sweet little buddies. We've been very blessed by the friendship of the Arnold family! I am so thankful that we have the Arnold family in our lives and the Benjamin has a great friend in Will.

May 2011

May 2010

May 2009

May 2008

July 2007

May, 2007. Erin had Will 3 days later and I had Benjamin 6 days later.

Tacky and tasteless

"Since Gaga is all about transformation and the shock of the new, we asked trendsetting fashion and theatrical designers, illustrators, and cartoonists to try to top said meat dress."

This is what the New York magazine asked. Here's what one cartoonist produced.

As a mom of a child born with a cleft, I am completely offended.

In my opinion, it was tacky and tasteless of the artist to use something like a cleft to "transform" Lady Gaga. The artist, Tim Henley said, "Lady Gaga obtains a cleft lip from a cosmetic surgeon to spread her message of universal tolerance. What if you could change the life of a diva?"

Was it the artist's perogative to make this cartoon? Sure. If you think a cleft lip and palate and the title of Lady Gaga's new album (Born This Way) fit together in an ironic twist, fine. What really upsets me is that the New York Magazine chose to put this up for everyone to see. Though not wrong, I think it was a poor judgment choice.

The "assignment", Hypothetical Gaga, was to top the bizarre meat dress, to be more shocking. The cartoonist did get it right. A cleft lip is shocking at first for parents. But when I looked at Timothy, I immediately fell in love. I didn't see the cleft, I saw my beautiful baby boy. And when Tim Henley used a cleft lip to make Lady Gaga appear more shocking and bizarre, it felt like a slap in the face to me as a mother. My baby and the deformity he had should not be put into the same category as a stupid meat dress.

The cartoonist, Tim Henley, completely missed the mark, and the New York Magazine should NOT have published his work. The assignment was called Hypothetical Gaga. A cleft lip is not hypothetical. It is something that thousands of parents and children deal with every day.

If you agree with me, please take the time to e-mail New York Magazine. Here's a copy of the letter I sent.

"To whom it may concern,

I write to you today to express my disappointment and outrage in the portrayal of Lady Gaga with a cleft lip and palate.

Using a birth defect that effects thousands of parents and children every day as a way to make Lady Gaga look more bizarre and freakish is insulting. A cleft lip in not a hypothetical situation. My child, (change this as appropriate) has dealt with the many issues involved with having a cleft. Are you insinuating that a child with a cleft is bizarre or freakish? Shame on you!

How will you correct this wrong?

Sincerely,"

E-mails can be sent to: contactus@nymag.com

Look a likes?

Recently, Timothy has heard that he looks a lot like his big brother, Benjamin. What do you think?

Benjamin, 15 months

Timothy, 14 months

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Mother's Day came a little early for me this year. Since I savor a cup (or two or three) of coffee in the morning, the kids each made me a coffee mug. Curtis did an amazing job preparing for this little activity. He bought all the supplies, did his research, went to several stores, endured the excitement of shopping with the three boys (which included a buggy accident..... everyone was fine!) and then patiently helped the kids with their mugs.
I love how each of the mugs shows a bit of each of the kids' personalities!
Elizabeth wrote "Happy Mother's Day!" several times on the mug, drew flowers and wrote her name in cursive!
Micah drew our family on the mug. He somehow forgot his sister, but quickly added her to our family line up!
Benjamin wrote "Mommy" on the mug he decorated and drew a yellow tornado. He even drew on the inside of his mug!
Timothy even made me a mug!! I was in the other room during this little project, and could hear Timothy screaming. I asked Curtis what he was fussing about, and Curtis said that every time he tried to switch marker colors, Timothy flipped.
The final product!!!

So far, it's been a very special Mother's Day.